On the road again...
Got back from a looong road trip last night. It was great to be back out in the countryside, and it's great to be back in the comfort of home again. We went to all kinds of places off the beaten track (read terrible roads, or no roads at all), including a few places I had only been to once, many years ago. We never got our hands on a 4x4, so we had to pass on the Kelbajar leg of the trip, unfortunately. This greatly increased the distance we had to travel, mostly backtracking.
The countryside was green everywhere, and the visibility was often perfect, with views of Ararat from as far as the gates of Zangezur. The weather was also excellent, with little rain - which had been my #1 concern. The camping at Satanayi Kamurj was ideal (well, except for all the litter).
I must say I had really forgotten how much I like Karabakh, and Stepanakert. Such a pleasure to be there, so nice and clean, such nice people, so green, so much potential. The number of projects in Shushi was amazing. There seem to be a million projects going to turn it into a center for art and culture. A huge new hotel is nearing completion. Some of the terrible roads are being repaired.... if a bit more effort was focused on jobs, I think we'd have something there...
Unfortunately couldn't see any new stuff, since this trip was all about highlights for my sister's visit, but it was the long needed trip into the countryside. She's off tomorrow on the BA flight, at the humane hour of 9:50am. Why can't all the flights be at that time??
The countryside was green everywhere, and the visibility was often perfect, with views of Ararat from as far as the gates of Zangezur. The weather was also excellent, with little rain - which had been my #1 concern. The camping at Satanayi Kamurj was ideal (well, except for all the litter).
I must say I had really forgotten how much I like Karabakh, and Stepanakert. Such a pleasure to be there, so nice and clean, such nice people, so green, so much potential. The number of projects in Shushi was amazing. There seem to be a million projects going to turn it into a center for art and culture. A huge new hotel is nearing completion. Some of the terrible roads are being repaired.... if a bit more effort was focused on jobs, I think we'd have something there...
Unfortunately couldn't see any new stuff, since this trip was all about highlights for my sister's visit, but it was the long needed trip into the countryside. She's off tomorrow on the BA flight, at the humane hour of 9:50am. Why can't all the flights be at that time??
posted by Raffi K. at 7:03 PM
4 Comments:
Maybe I'll be gunned for saying this, but I never TRULY understood why Artsakh meant so much to Armenia until I actually went there... when we were driving the highway into Stepanakert it is just beautiful, absolutely amazing, and the city shocked me with how nice it was. There is a respect there for what we have, I really admired that.
I had to sleep in a tent in a football pitch outside the hotel ( no room ! and i got short straw) it was amazing, and at like 3am someone was playing duduk. I have no IDEA where it was from but it was both scary and absolutely amazing when I left the tent and looked up at the stars..man...dont you just love Armenia!
I often wonder though, would I pick up a weapon to defend this land? I hope that I could find courage to do that.
Two year's ago when my sis & niece were visiting we came back to Vardenis through Kelbajar in a Volvo 740 with very low clearance. We bottomed out a few times in mud puddles & had to flatten a couple of dirt mounds the tractors had left (no more than 10 minutes overall) but we saved alot ot time & showed them new sites. Now the road is fixed somewhat but even then a Zhiguli or Volga would have had no problem. I'm glad I ignored the locals advice & took the Kelbajar route anyway.
Hi Grigor - I pretty sure you didn't go through in May! There are many kilometers of dirt road which might be passable in dry weather, but it would just not be wise in the spring in a Zhiguli or Volga...
I did Dadivanq last May in a Niva. And that was quite brutal. I miss Artsakh. :-(
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